Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

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Bulwark really cares about what the customer thinks. We strive to provide the very best customer service in the industry. That is why each year we send out surveys to every one of our customers asking them for their opinions on our service and if they have any suggestions on how we can improve. Without fail, there are several technicians who are mentioned on the survey responses for their extra efforts. And we have been astounded ourselves hearing what our techs have done for the customers. Take this review:

“We have used Bulwark for 3 years now. Everyone we have spoken with on the phone and worked at our house have been very nice and accommodating. When we moved into our house we had a ton of bug issues and after just one treatment our issues decreased tremendously. We have been very happy with our service. James Nelms has been out to our house several times for treatments. He has been great every time we have dealt with him. This past time, my dog was a little too excited when he arrived and piddled. We were not around so he actually cleaned it up. I would not have done this for any of my customers and was embarrassed he had cleaned it up. I was very appreciative though. Thanks for the great work!‎”

Another customer wrote,

“My favorite Pest Control Tech, Adam MacFarlane, was out today for our monthly service in NW Las Vegas. Not that pest control is a noisy process, but my only instruction to Adam today was to be especially quiet–my grandson was sleeping. Needless to say, Adam started whispering and was trying to be extra quiet. Who would ever think that having your monthly pest control service would be an enjoyable event. I’ve known Adam for almost a year now and there is no one else I’d want to treat our home. Thanks Bulwark for hiring such an great employee and as always for the excellent service.”

Here at Bulwark Exterminating, we reward our technicians for making good impressions. If a technician is ever mentioned on a review or survey questionnaire, the comment is recorded and the technician is rewarded. If you love your technician, please let us know. We want to know so we can identify our star performers. We want our technicians to feel appreciated. We want to keep them happy.Plus, we’d like to hear more of these amazing stories!

Copyright © 2011 Steve_Bitter. Visit the original article at http://pestcontroltulsaok.com/2011/02/which-pest-do-you-love-the-most/.

For it being a Monday, there’s a lot of love in the air. Valentine’s Day is the day that divides friends and family in all different directions.  Everything about today hinges on one’s relationship status.  Elderly couples have paid their dues.  They’ll just hit Applebee’s a little early this week with their sweethearts.  Middle agers will just hire their own kids so they can hit dinner and movie.  Newlyweds will spend half the month’s paycheck on the occasion.  College kids will miss class today and spend enormous amounts of money on a girlfriend or boyfriend.  High schoolers don’t have enough money to do anything, and they don’t even know what love is.  It’s all about infatuation at that age.  And elementary school kids are excited to pass out Justin Bieber valentines with candy hearts to all their secret crushes.

And that’s just assuming all those people even have a valentine for the day.  If today’s not Valentine’s Day for one, then it’s “Singles Unite” Day for another.  If singles haven’t called in sick today to work, or just all together ditched classes, for sure they are masterminding a large singles event later tonight.  No married people allowed!  What better way to “celebrate” your single…ness than to throw a party with other singles and watch a movie that has nothing to do with romance.  Like…Live Free or Die Hard.  That’s a perfect movie.  The antagonist even looses his girlfriend to a Ford Explorer falling down an elevator shaft.

I’m not here to delve too much into the who’s and how’s of our relationships.  But I am here to ask why.  Why can’t pests get love to?  Not that we need to save them all or anything.  We are still in the exterminating business.  Rather, our love for our local pests can come in the form of a basic understanding of who these little critters are, and what type of role they play.  Some aspects of our little friends can even be quite admirable.  We’ll just stick to the common pests for right now.

First, the ant.  Ants are known the be the janitors of the world.  They can feast on almost anything – dead animals, other dead insects and dead leaves.  One dead insect is another ant’s fortune.  In the work place, the work and dedication of one ant colony is enough to make even the best CEO marvel.  Each ant knows its role.  Each ant has a purpose.  From sun up to sundown, the ant’s life is work, work, work.  No holidays.  No sick days.

Next, the spider.  Believe it or not, spiders are somewhat family oriented.  They care for their young.  As icky as the webs may be, they serve as both a home and a trap for food.  In the grand scheme of things, they are a major player in keeping the ecosystems in check.   They help maintain the food cycle by controlling the general populations of their prey.  They are the “For Us, By Us” pest controllers.

Crickets.  For every predator there is prey.  Crickets, in a sense, take one for the team.  They serve as a valuable food source to many other insects and rodents.  As today is Valentine’s Day, we will highlight a common mating practice.  You know that chirping sound?  Sounds great when you’re camping, but not so much when it’s in your wall?  Well, it’s actually the male’s mating call.  In fact, the exact chirping sound differs from species to species, allowing the females to determine who specifically is on the market.  How romantic!

Cockroaches.  Moving away from the ecological value of these critters, cockroaches have recently become the center of study in the advancement of robotic limbs.  Scientists are mimicking the body mechanics of cockroaches to improve the speed and effectiveness  that robotic hands are able to grasp and react to the surrounding environment.  While cockroaches have their place in the food chain, they are now being observed for the cause of science.

Make no mistake about it.  There are no good reasons you should have to battle pests in the comfort of your own home.  But just for today, take time to learn something about our little visitors.  Most of them are just trying to make their way in the world, just like the rest of us.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all the married folks, single people and insects around the world.

In all honesty, Who wants a roach named after them? On Valentine's day or any other day of the year? If you want to save this species or learn more about them then go buy one online. Yes, you can buy one online, an for a cheaper price then naming one.

Flowers Wilt. Chocolates Melt. And you better not invite Bulwark Exterminating over to ruin your forever Roaches.

Here at BlogPestControl, we would like to welcome AJ and Marcie, a K9 bedbug inspection and bedbug education team.  AJ, what kind of dog is Marcie?

Marcy is a 2 ½ year old Fox Terrier mix.  She is a rescue.

Why this breed?

You will most likely see these type of k9s doing this work because of their breeds natural ability to hunt and pick up a sent. We also wanted a small k9 to be able to get into tight spaces under and around furniture.

What kind of reactions do you get from businesses like hotels and apartments?

Well the reactions are mixed there are those that are really botherd by the problem weather it be because the bed bugs have cost them tens of thousands of dollars or if they have had some bad press recently regarding the subject. And then you have those companies that love the idea because they know that the problem will not be going away anytime soon so they want to be able to use every tool possible to detect the bed bugs early and show their clients or custemers that they are doing every thing possible to protect them.

The thing that we as bed bug specialist would like the public to understand is that there is no prevention of bed bugs only early detection. So it is unreasonable to think that a hotel or resort for example is going to be able to keep all their rooms from getting a bed bug but what they can and should expect is that the hotel they are going to stay at is doing everything possible to find them before they become and infestation and spread.

What about apartment? Should landlords be concerned about a problem in the apartment complex?

Absalutly they should be concerned. Any time you have a structure that is occupied by many different people their should be a concern and an active approach to early detection because you have all these different people going to all different places throught the city and and in some cases maybe nationally or internationally weather its for work or play.

Imagin for a second that you have a tenant that takes a trip to NY or Chicago for example and they pick up bed bugs from some where during the trip it  could be on the plane, The hotel, or even a theater or brodway show that they visited. Then they return home to their apartment or condo in the valley. If they don’t have any allergic reactions to the bed bug bites they may not even know that they brought them home until they are infested by that time they may very easly have spread to the neighboring units around them.

I know that that example sounds pretty extreme or worst case but in fact the reason we are having so many problems in the country is because this is common place. This happens weekly that is why educating your staff and tenants and having a game plan is so important. As a matter of fact Phoenix is in the process of pass a new law that will require landlords to declare to new tenants weather or not they have had a Bed Bug problem in the past.

What about RVs?

What do you mean?

Are RVs or more specifically the RV mattresses a potential target?

Yes definitely any where that there are people and that fact that RVs can take people all over the country means that they could potentially have a bed bug infestation. The RV mattresses are great potential hiding places unless it was some kind of memory foam or had a cover that they cant crawl into. But then you still have the couches and carpet seams that could still provide excellent harborage places for the bugs.

Well, thank you for your time and we will be just a little bit more vigilant as we are preparing for our next travel adventure and hopefully keep away from those pesky bedbugs.  If we have any questions or need education concerning bedbug issues, how can we get a hold of you?

Sure, please call (480) 442-BUGS or you can visit my website at http://professionalbedbugdogs.com

Thanks AJ and Marcie! We look forward to having you back soon to follow up on some of the new legislation being passed on bed bugs.

Sounds Great!

Now that’s we’ve had a few days to digest all the chicken wings and baby back ribs from Sunday’s Super Bowl, we’ve also had time to digest the onslaught of new commercials from our nation’s advertising giants.  What were your favorites?  Funniest?  Commercial that might actually affect a future purchase?

Being at a party with tons of food, 5 other couples and a handful of kids running and crawling around (including my own),  it was a bit tough to catch all the commercials like in previous years.  One of the first ads I remember seeing was the “Guy obsessed with cheese Doritos” ad.

“Hey, are you going to finish those?”  “Sorry.  They’re already gone.”  “No they’re not.  You left the best part.”  Guy abruptly jams his co-workers cheesy fingers into his mouth.  “Mmmm, cheese!”

Another good one was Snickers’ Lumberjacks spot.  Richard Lewis and Roseanne Barr make the cameos in this one.  All we really need to know in this one is that Roseanne Barr gets absolutely mowed down.  Describing it wouldn’t even do it justice.

Hahahahaha!  Oh man, that doesn’t get old!

I was a little disappointed in Mercedes Benz’s ad featuring P. Diddy.  Diddy historically does great commercials, Super Bowl or not.  I still think his Pepsi Truck commercial from a few years ago is my favorite Super Bowl ads of all time.  This years’ Benz commercial seemed really anticlimactic.  Once Diddy came in the picture, I was hooked, but only to be let down by the featuring of the new car line.  I wanted more Diddy!

Our favorite commercial here at the office comes with good reason.  Being a pest control company, we thoroughly enjoyed Volkswagen’s ad for the new Beetle.  I didn’t even know it was for VW until the very end, but for 25 seconds I was really, really interested and entertained by this little beetle’s race through the forest as he slid past Mr. Centipede and raced by the praying mantis boxing match.  The rest is history.

Sure, we might be a little bias, but it was an awesome ad.  It grabbed your attention from the beginning.  The music definitely helped.  The race scenes along the ground were creative and humorous.  For being a commercial with no dialog, it was fabulous.

To our defense, we’re also not the only ones that think so.  In a study just released by Alterian, an international marketing group, Volkswagen has had the most social media conversations dating back to Dec. 1, 2010.  Of those conversations, VW is also ranked #1 in both highest positive sentiment (22%) and lowest negative sentiment (3%).  More than two-thrids of those conversations and mentions happened on micro-blogging sites.  We’ll safely assume Twitter was the main channel.

I’ve since gone back and taken a look at some of the ad spots that I missed and I have to say there are some pretty good ones.  But I’m sticking with my first impression on this one that Volkswagen’s ad was the highlight of this year’s Super Bowl ad wars.

Today is the start of the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Bed Bug Summit in Washington DC. The government sponsored 2-day event will discuss regulation, research and prevention on a national level for multiple industries. This is the EPA‘s second such conference in two years, as the first was held in 2009 in Virginia.

Bed bug summits have become an event of high demand lately. In September of 2010, the first ever North American Bed Bug Summit took place in Chicago. With a more traditional summit atmosphere, bed bug experts and professionals gathered to discuss the ever-growing problem that continues to plague major cities and small towns across the county. Consider these summits to be the Super Bowls of bed bug extermination.

So what’s in the playbook? ABC News reported the agenda in Chicago consisted of seminars focused on detection and treatment. Vendors from all over the nation were on site with their anti-bed bug products. For example, on display was an air tight bag designed to seal your laundry during travel, after-which dissolves in the washer, eliminating the risk of opening the bag and letting those little critters escape. Seems like a good idea!

If you haven’t experienced bed bugs first hand, count yourself lucky. ABC also reported that at least 5 states have actually solicited help from the Department of Defense, which gives a whole new meaning to “national security”. I would love to be there for that mission. “Lock and load! Weapons are hot!” right before they bust down the doors to little Jimmy’s room and secure the area. We have veterans here in the company, so our respect goes out to all the men and women that keep us safe.

While we do no target bed bugs specifically, we do advise proper prevention and detection before hiring a professional to service your residence. Bed bug sniffing dogs are a unique and effective way to determine the presence and severity of any infestation.  To our Arizona neighbors and businesses, we recommend AJ and his trusty dog Marcie, over at K9 Bedbug Inspections.